Tuesday, Oct 30 2007 - the $450 bins!!!!

last thursday i stopped at target for a few things including some new storage bins that i needed to put away the deck decorations for the winter. of course i managed to buy several other things and had a cart full of shopping bags as i left my store. as i approached my car i noticed a large black car backing into the handicapped space next to me. the people in the car did not get out of the car and they didn't have a handicapped parking permit. i thought to myself now i have to deal with cars on both sides of me as i try to get these big bins into my car because I knew they wouldn't fit into my trunk. well i guess you can imagine whay happened next. when i opened the back passenger door I "hit" the door of the black car. I didn't do it on purpose and I am usually very careful. I chose the passenger side because there was more room there than on the driver side.

OK, so as soon as i realized i tapped this car, I pulled my door away, waved sorry to the driver and I looked at his door to see if there was a mark. I am very careful when it comes to opening car doors too, so this was so unusual for me in the first place. there wasn't a mark that i could see so i proceeded to unload the rest of my purchases into my car. when i was done i walked my shopping cart over to a holding area. then i got into my car, started the engine and backed out of the parking space. i was completely pulled out of the spot when i see this guy get out of his car and look at his door. i didn't think anything of it because as far as i could tell there was nothing there. but then he started motioning to my car and pointing to his door saying look what i did to his car. i was like omg, this is a nut job. he was motioning to me like a lunatic. he had plenty of time before that to get out of the car to check. his delay made me think he purposedly wanted to be more intimidating because that is certainly what it felt like at the moment. I pulled back into the spot, got out of my car and looked to where he was pointing. i couldn't see a thing, but he insisted there was something there. after looking very hard i could see something, but nothing that anyone would ever notice unless they truly looked closely or pulled out a magnifying glass. of course there was no way i could say if this "mark" was there before either so i didn't know what to do.

i told the guy he was being completely unreasonable but told him i would pay for this so called "damage" and we exchanged names and phone numbers. i should have lied, but he could easily write down my license plate number and well i just wouldn't ever do anything like that.

he called me three time before he even got to his auto body shop. i didn't understand why he was calling before bringing the car in for a repair estimate. i could understand once, but not 3 times. i can't say that i was feeling at all comfortable about this situation.

yesterday i get the call from his auto body shop with an estimate of $450.00 to repair the "dent"! i am not sure how the mark grew to a dent in a few days. it turns out it is a custom paint job and a mercedes and blah, blah, blah. i was furious. i kept thinking if he wasn't parked illegally this wouldn't have happened. if he wasn't in the car this wouldn't have happened. gosh he would never even have seen this "mark". now don't get me wrong, i am not advocating walking away when there is trully damage done. but i can't imagine how many times people hit cars in parking lots with their car doors accidently and don't even think anything of it. it must happen constantly to many people! if i inspect my car i am sure there might be a few marks here or there but you just can't help that. it's just one year old but it is not a show piece! just driving down the street causes little bings etc.

the person from the auto body shop was very nice and i could tell he felt badly for me. i think he felt like this guy was being ridiculous about "repairing" the car too but of course he couldn't say that to me. he was surprised as hell that i even offered to pay. be that as it may, i am now stuck. we are debating calling our insurance company because i think the out of pocket would still be the same.

but i am having a good week as far as ck goes so i guess that is something to be thankful for. but as careful as i am in parking lots and with counting my calories, i am still the proud owner of 2 storage bins that cost me $450.00!!!

Comments

Wow, Grace, I am so sorry about that loser. [It reminds me of a guy in front of me once exiting the highway with a merge lane and who, to my surprise, came to a complete stop. I tapped his car. He didn't want to call the police, and he agreed there was no damage, but wanted my name and phone # anyway. When I asked why, if he agreed there was no damage, he said, well, you know, my wife's neck. So, I insisted we call the police because of the personal injury and he didn't want to wait, claimed to be in a hurry....and that was the end of that.] I think I might get the insurance involved just to make sure he's not having something else painted, or just profiting in some other way. I think someone parking in a handicapped spot is not above that. Donna's right...a camera would have been good. You have a wonderful attitude, though...I commend you for that! :kiss: I am a firm believer in what goes around comes around and he will one day get what's coming to him. :evil:

:hi: I'm sorry to hear this is happening to you. I have to agree with the otheres I wonder how many times he has pulled this on other people. It's also to bad like Donna said that you didn't have a camera to take a picture of him illegally parked. Nothing pisses me off more then seeing someone who is parked in a HP spot that doesn't belong there. For years my husband wouldn't pull into one nor get his parking permit. I had to finally talk him into getting it when he had his accident at work a little over tow years ago. He always told me that someone out there was worse off then he was. You have a great attitude toward it all. Yes, I made the barbie dress. Glad you liked it. I hope you had a terrific day! :)

i detest people that are loony about their cars like that. if you have so much money you buy custom fancy schmancies, fix it yourself, or be less attached to your material possessions because you've got so much cashola you can just get a new one!!! how annoying . :hi:

:wave1: To bad you did not have a camera in your glove box...for two reasons...first to take a picture of the damage (:huh:) second to take a picture of the licence number and the car in a handicap stall....Bet it would have cost him/her more .......I love your attitude however...Have a terrific Tuesday.:)